The Maharashtra Government is planning to connect the prominent IT hubs of Hinjewadi and Talawade near Pune by a light rail system, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has said.

“We have sanctioned two corridors for the metro in Pune, but since metro is not feasible here, we are looking at a light rail,” he said, adding that primary discussions for the project were underway.

The light rail will connect Hinjewadi with Talawade, as the city becomes attractive for industries like auto, engineering and IT, he added.

Chavan, who was speaking at the launch of a new campus of French IT major Capgemini at Talawade, said that the State received 37 per cent of the total FDI coming to India, and Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik were the upcoming industry destinations.

“The multimodal international cargo hub and airport (Mihan) is coming up at Nagpur. TCS has come, Infosys is doing a ground-breaking there in the next few days, and Boeing is now at take-off stage,” he said referring to the MRO facility Boeing is setting up.

There were huge investments happening at the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) in Shendra-Bidkin region of Aurangabad with Japanese funding, while the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor also passes through this belt.

“We are focusing on developing infrastructure in Mumbai and have built a new airport terminal. A third underground metro is coming up between Colaba and Santracruz,” Chavan said, adding that he wanted to develop one city airport in each of the State’s 33 districts, and land acquisition was underway at Chakan for a dedicated freight corridor.

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